New Home Lighting and Power Point Needs
Arun and Suman Patel had called in early November because they’d bought a new house and the lights were lacking, and they needed some fans installed and a few power points in a two-store home, relatively new, but they weren’t quite sure what the layouts would be.
Initial Electrical Consultation
So I visited their home, and we did a consultation to review what the rooms looked like now and what the potential problems were and what they wanted to achieve. And it was pretty obvious that Suman really hated the house for its lighting. She asked what was the best option. She thought downlights would be the best solution. She did want to have some form of air flow, which was a bit lacking, although there was ducted air conditioning.
Downlight Placement and Fan Positioning
On scanning the different rooms of the place, I’d nominated to them how many lights they would need, given the size of the room and the shape of the room, and that we would be able to fit fans such that we would not have a problem with light flicker when the fan was turning underneath downlights. So we had to placement the downlights was very important.
Wiring Challenges in a Two-Storey Home
Additionally, because it was under… There was a partial component which was in the upper story, as well as a component which was downstairs on the lower level, that did mean, we would have some technical difficulties running wires when we put downlights in because the ceiling between the floors had had timber, obviously supporting the timber frames and the gyprock. That would not necessarily lend itself to an easy wiring job in this particular case.
Multi-Room Lighting Installation
They had five rooms downstairs and four rooms in the rumpus area upstairs. The upstairs The area was always going to be easier because there was access to a loft so that we could run cables in that ceiling space above the upper floor ceiling.
Ceiling Fan Installation with Timber Supports
The only problem was that we weren’t always going to be able to put the fan where the timber was not able to be located. Because if we had located it where the fan or where the timber was, then the problem would have been that the downlights would need to be spaced too far away or in particular position. We did put timbers, or recommended putting timbers in ceiling so that they were exactly in the centre of lights. In total, there were seven fans that were to be installed.
Pendant Lighting for Kitchen Area
In the kitchen area, there was a pendant light to go in above a breakfast bar. Again, we did make some suggestions in the types of light that she would probably be best to look for. In general, we don’t and supply those lights, although we can if a customer wishes us to.
Feature Chandelier Installation in Foyer
And in the foyer, they had a very awkward stairway where they wanted us to install a chandelier, a special-purpose chandelier, an LED feature chandelier. It wasn’t heavy, but it was quite difficult to install in that that space without getting complicated scaffolding in order to lift it to the ceiling. So we had to plan and design how we were going to do that and build it all together in a quote where we supplied all of the components of the build.
Quotation Process and Building Client Confidence
But now we moved into the quotation phase. And of course, every client wants good value. They want to know where cost savings can be made. They want to feel confident that they are going to get a good result once the job is done. So you have to build confidence in the client that you’re very capable. You’ve done this many times before, and usually that helps if you’ve got references that you can point them to and people that they could speak to where you’ve done a similar job before. And GlobileNet do have that option.
Scope of Works and Bill of Materials
So in that process, we normally put together the bill of material or the scope of works and send it off to the client and say “Look, let’s comment on the scope of works before we actually come down to pricing it”, and we come to make sure that we are on the same page in terms of the scope of work, that the notes and assumptions are made and understood.
Pricing Adjustments Based on Feedback
But given that feedback from the client, then we’re really ready then to actually set some pricing to the whole proposal. It’s very much a consultative process in that phase until we get to the pricing. Then we submit that to the client for the client’s perusal and for further consultation.
Budget Concerns and Proposal Revisions
In this case, they thought the pricing was a little bit over budget. They weren’t really concerned that we were too expensive or something as a company, but they did have a budget, so we had to make some changes just in general to the proposal.
Energy-Efficient Downlight Options
We actually offered them downlights which were less first-tier product, but very, very good products that we highly recommend for clients that are not specifically looking for branded products. So these products, we’ve tested and tried. We know that their energy or lighting efficiency is really good and comparable to the best, but they come at 20% less cost.
Consultative Process Builds Trust
So we got to a solution through the consultative process, and the client accepted the solution in its entirety. So the reason they’d chosen the solution in its entirety without going to other quotes, is that we’ve been quite transparent throughout the process and we’ve been consultative and not put any pressure on the client to make any particular directional moves. We weren’t trying to push any particular products. We were just there to give them and concentrate on that result that they so much wanted, which was light levels which they could live with in their home, and that particularly Suman would be happy with. She was the one that had so much disappointment when they bought the house with the existing lighting.
Emotional Impact of Better Lighting
So one of the benefits outside of the physical benefit of installing the lights in the obvious light outputs was that there was an emotional element to it for Suman because she felt deflated when she was in her home and needed to have that emotional lift and feel good about going into the home.
Wiring Through Ducted Vents and Ceilings
So they accepted our proposal and then during implementation, there’s a lot going on, especially in a lower story of a two-storey house. Sometimes there’s ducted vents, air conditioning vents. We can actually remove the air conditioning vent so that we don’t drill holes everywhere and leave a mess of the ceiling. These air conditioning vents sometimes give us the opportunity to drill laterally across timbers so that we can run wires across the space, the ceiling space, so that we can pick up, say, four downlights without actually making any more holes that were not intended to be made for lights. This takes time. And generally, we take pride in our work, and we want to reduce the number of holes made in ceiling, especially in the new home, to a minimum.
Scanning and Marking for Downlight Installation
And that’s one of the ways we do it. We actually scan the area, we explore every opportunity to run wires, either in existing holes in the ceilings by using other wires or by removing vents and ducts, you know, so that we can get access across the ceiling without too much trouble.
Stud Finding and Ceiling Marking Challenges
Now, during that process, we usually spend as much time marking the ceiling because when we mark the ceilings for downlights, almost invariably, it’s not symmetrical. We would have to measure up the ceiling, mark the spots, then we check for timbers. And checking for timbers is not as simple as it seems. We do have stud finders, but they don’t necessarily pick up timbers which are just above the gyprock, which could cause a problem when we drill a hole and try to install a light into that position. It’s almost half the time to get those because once we’ve, say, got a symmetrical positioning for lights and find that we’ve got to move one, then you’ve usually invariably got to move two because timbers are in the way or something like that. You may even have to move all four until you eventually get to the point where you’re comfortable that you can drill the 90mm holes for the downlights, and you’re going to be free of timber.
Cable Termination and Ceiling Fan Supports
Running cables, as I said, we have to make access through the timbers, and we can do that via existing opportunistic, if you like, access panels that are created by ducts by vents in the roof and various other forms of access. Our next job is just terminating those cables. And as I’ve said before, we were to put fans in the middle of these rooms. So once we’ve got the lights in position, then we set up the centre point for the the fan, and then we explore what timber needs to be put in to support the fan.
Centring Ceiling Fans with Downlights
Now, in most cases, you’d be very, very lucky to get a timber in exactly the same position, or exactly the centre position of those four downlights. That means we either have it slightly off centre or we have to insert timbers. In these cases, most of these rooms, we could drill a 90mm hole where the fan was going with the knowledge that we could actually fit a timber through that 90mm hole and drill it into a main support And at the end of it, when we put the fan up, we’re able to hide the hole with the fan.
Customer Walkthrough and Position Approval
And the fan then would be centred to the four downlights, or in this case, four downlights. And that’s repeated through every step to each room.
And before we drill, by the way, we always go to the customer saying “Well, this is where we’re going to propose supposing to put these lights. This is where we’re going to put the fan, and we need you to authorise that position before we drill it.” So the customers walked through the process and has every opportunity to speak and put their own decisions into the position of the lights. So that’s really important because sometimes if I just take it on myself to drill the lights and they’re not happy, it’s a very unhappy outcome. I’m not happy because I’ve got to patch or repair holes. They’re not happy because there’s patched and repaired holes.
Continuous Client Consultation During Installation
So it’s very important that you follow the consultative process from the moment they walk into the door to the duration through to the implementation. Don’t just stop at the proposal phase. Keep consulting all the way through. So the solution then matches the customer’s expectations along the way.
Multi-Day Lighting Installation Process
And what we tend to do is you can’t do everything in a day, of course. In this case, it was about three days of work. So we try to get everything so that we can get finished in a day, a certain section so that we can turn the lights on at night without leaving them without lights. The opportunity then for the client is that they can see what it looks like at night as well. And they can make some changes or alterations if they think it’s not what they expected. In this case, it was more than they expected. They were really, really happy.
Dust-Free Drilling Tools
The other thing with a lot of customers is that they tend to expect, I think, almost that there’s going to be a lot of mess. We take a lot of time and effort to make sure we’ve got the right tools so that, for example, when we drill a hole in the ceiling, we have these dust-cover bowls. When you drill a hole, the cut-out is kept in the dust bowl and all the dust falls into that dust bowl. So where you get very, very little dust coming into the room. We can take that dust bowl out with the material and put it into a rubbish box outside. And we do that for every step, basically. Each hole that’s drilled, the residual materials in the dust catcher are actually removed and taken straight outside.
Clean and Tidy Electrical Workmanship
So the client also is generally much happier because they realise that it’s not going to be a complete mess in their home, and they’re not going to have dust on all the furniture and trimings. So use of the best tools brings about a great benefit to the client because you can end up not only getting a good result, but you’ve got it cleanly.
Ceiling Patch and Repair Skills
There are occasions where we must drill a hole that is not necessarily a hole for a specific purpose of putting light. So the client is very happy to know that we also work hard on our skills, if you like, in patching holes, so that when we patch the hole, we actually keep the material that we cut out. We put some bracing behind the ceiling, which is glued, and then we fix the cut out piece into that, and that’s also glued and screwed, and then we fill the gaps. It’s not a perfect finish unless the client has some paint available, the original paint, but they’re never left with a hole which was not filled.
Transparent Notes and Assumptions
And that’s generally well explained in the notes and assumptions up front in the draught proposal when we draw it up for the client’s review, and we have that discussion generally with the client.
Electrical Expertise and Customer Reassurance
So really, I guess in the whole process, the client gets a little bit of a wow factor about how much, how well we know how to get through a ceiling space without creating damage. And if we have to create some damage, then they’re comfortable that we know how to repair it in a quality manner so that it can be easily painted.
Eliminating Light Flicker with Correct Fan Spacing
And that when all the lights and the fans have been installed, they know that they’re not going to see a flickering because the fans are too close to the lights. And the lighting is evenly distributed. The spacing is… Usually they’ll think, Oh, well, it should be this, in a particular room. And we say “No, that’s probably not the best idea.” And they take a great leap of faith sometimes, but once they see the result, they know that we know what we’re talking about.
Unique Value Proposition: Skills, Tools, and Knowledge
So our unique value proposition, I suppose, amounts to all of those skills, the equipment we use, the diligence we take in trying to minimise dust and dirt. We bring with it the skills and electrical knowledge, and knowledge of equipment to boot.
Customer Communication Throughout Job
So once we’re done, by the way, we’re constantly asking the client “are you okay?” I think that’s very important. Just like we say “is the light in this position, okay?”
Client Sign-Off and Positive Reviews
By the time we finish the job, they’re ready to actually write or give us a good review, generally speaking. And so that’s the stage when we’re at the end of the job, then we’re getting them to sign off on the job, where we might ask them to do a review. In this case, Arun, Suman’s husband, did us a review, and they were very happy with the outcome and results.
Downlight Warranty and Long-Term Support
And in fact, subsequently, if one of the downlights failed, and our downlights, the ones that we supplied, was seven years warranty from the manufacturer. And we provide, equally, a seven-year labour-free warranty so that if that light fails within seven years after installation, then we will replace it for free for the client. We’ve actually got good insurance and good mechanisms there for the client to have a long-term positive experience with us.
